Photographing the arts: Different Spaces—on venue size, and lens choice

One of the trickiest things as a performing arts photographer is going into a theatre or concert hall you haven’t worked in before, and trying to pick the right places to be, and which lenses to use, for a show.

In most situations, I have two camera bodies on the go at any time, so I can have different lenses mounted on each of them to cover a wider range of fields of view—and of course so that if one camera has a problem of some kind, I can immediately switch to the other one. (Fortunately that doesn’t happen very much!)

But going into a room I don’t know is a special challenge, especially if I’m photographing while there’s an audience watching. If I have to stay out of sight and not disturb anyone, then I probably need longer lenses than I would if I can be right up at the front of the room capturing tight portraits of the performers on stage, during a rehearsal.

So, how long is long enough? And how do I work that out ahead of time, so I know what to bring?

First XV: Wellington Jazz Festival (2009)

I started this series with a photo of a saxophone, taken at the Wellington Jazz Festival - and here we are again, seven years later!

This one's the polar opposite of that first image in a lot of ways, though; the original was blurry, slightly abstract, a little bit out of control, where this one is a clean, crisp silhouette, and, facing the opposite direction...

First XV: Marc Taddei conducts the Vector Wellington Orchestra (2007)

It's strange to have a photo where I'm actually IN it, along with the subjects - that's not usually what I'm aiming for! But this time, I didn't mind - I was just part of the audience in the concert, and I'd preset the camera on stage at interval, with a wireless trigger and my sound blimp...

First XV: Dave Douglas Quintet at the Wellington Jazz Festival (2002)

I realised recently that I had an anniversary coming up - not one of the obvious ones, but a quiet anniversary that I'd likely to be the only person to notice.

At the end of May 2002, I took the decision to give up my other work - I was doing about three different jobs at the time, working with a lighting company in theatre and events, helping the local film office, and doing a bit of consulting as a former box office manager as well - to concentrate completely on my photography career, which was starting to occupy more of my time.

Fifteen years later, I'm still at it - so to celebrate, I thought I'd look back and pick one image from each year along the way. And let's not underestimate how hard that is, to go through an entire year's work and choose just ONE image - but sometimes tough choices are needed...

PhotographyRobert CattoJune 12, 2017James CabaretFirst XV, Photography, Wellington, New Zealand, Jazz Festival, Music, Concert, Jazz, FestivalComment

Last Night Of The Proms with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Earlier this year, I was working with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra on their Last Night Of The Proms concert at the Sydney Opera House - and now that they've announced the Queen's Birthday concert again for 2017, I thought I'd put together a few images from the night!

The guest soloist was Greta Bradman (and yes, she's The Don's granddaughter) along with the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs; but of course, audience participation is as much the part of a show like this as anything that's happening on stage...between the confetti cannons, the streamers, and of course the many sing-alongs, it's an all-action sort of event...

Witches with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra

I was working with the good folks at the Sydney Symphony Orchestra again over the weekend, at the premiere of a new concert called Witches - featuring four Australian stars who've all played, well, witches, both here and overseas.

Helen Dallimore and Lucy Durack represented for Team Good Witch, having played Glinda in Wicked on the West End and in Australia respectively; and Jemma Rix and Amanda Harrison combined forces for evil, having both been Elphaba in Australia, New Zealand, and on tour through Asia as well.

The idea was to get them together, and put together an extravaganza of music based around that theme...

David Bowie: Nothing Has Changed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra

I've been working with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra a bit recently, and this weekend was their David Bowie: Nothing Has Changed tribute concert at the Sydney Opera House concert hall.

I'd been in a couple of weeks ago for rehearsals and to meet some of the production crew and performers, which was great - but they'd come a long way since that first day, including incorporating the orchestral musicians, which we didn't have there at the time!

Photographing the arts: two sides to every story

Once, early in my career, someone gave me wise advice about photographing events: 'remember, there are two sides to every story. There's what's happening on stage, and then there's the audience's reaction to it.'

Naturally, not every event I work on has an audience in attendance - often, I'm at a dress rehearsal, with only the director & crew - but also, most of the time, the audience (deliberately) isn't lit! So the opportunity to make use of this suggestion isn't always there; but once in a while, the chance comes along, and it's great to be able to take it...

Lost & Found #38: Sonny Rollins at the Wellington Jazz Festival, 2011

This week's Lost & Found post is from my last Wellington Jazz Festival - who are kicking off again today, over in New Zealand!

Our major draw card in 2011 was a one-off concert with Sonny Rollins and his band at the Michael Fowler Centre. He may have been 81 (REALLY!?) at the time, but he put on a heck of a show - and as you'd expect from someone of his calibre, the band were top notch as well...

Lost & Found #37: Wellington Jazz Festival, 2009

The Wellington Jazz Festival of 2009 was quite a different beast from the previous festivals I've mentioned in the last couple of Lost & Found posts - this time, the management of the New Zealand International Arts Festival took on the programming and running of it, so the scale of production and calibre of performers was substantially different...

Lost & Found #36: Wellington International Jazz Festival, 2004

As I mentioned in last week's Lost & Found, the Wellington Jazz Festival is about to happen again in a couple of weeks - so I thought I'd have a look back at some of the earlier editions when I photographed the event for them...

Lost & Found #34: Wellington International Jazz Festival 2002

With the Wellington Jazz Festival set to return in just a few weeks, I thought I'd have a look back at a few of the earlier editions for the next few Lost & Found posts. I was their photographer for a few of the events - 2002-04, and on its rebirth in 2009 when the NZ International Arts Festival produced it for the first time...

Lost & Found #32: Orchestra Wellington Circus Proms, 2007 & 2009

I was Orchestra Wellington's photographer from 2004-2011, documenting concerts and rehearsals for them with a range of guest soloists alongside music director Marc Taddei, a marvellous conductor, and a hilarious guy to work with, too.

In 2007, General Manager Christine Pearce got in touch to say they were working with a circus school on a kids' concert, and would I like to photograph it for them - naturally I was intrigued, but I'm not sure I expected THIS! Sure, why wouldn't you put hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of delicate instruments on stage with a flying trapeze, kids on unicycles, and stilt-walkers? What could possibly go wrong...?

The Bombay Royale at Sydney Town Hall (with Fuji X-Pro 1 & 56mm f/1.2, 18mm f/2)

The Skipper. The Mysterious Lady. The Tiger. A...unicorn? A concert by Melbourne band The Bombay Royale is always an interesting event, so when I heard they were going to open for Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings recently, of course I booked right away!

PhotographyRobert CattoSeptember 16, 201418mm f/2, 56mm f/1-2, Australia, Bombay Royale, Concert, New South Wales, Performance, Sydney, Town Hall, Fuji X-Pro 1, Live, Music, FujiComment

Broods at GoodGod Club, Sydney (with Fuji X-Pro 1, 60mm f/2.4 and 35mm f/1.4)

Great show tonight by the young Kiwi band Broods - very impressed with them, I can see why they're touring with Ellie Goulding at the moment (and she's a fan, too). Be proud of them, New Zealand! They're going to get very big, very fast...